Don

I have a ticket from Versailles Chantiers to Paris Montparnasse and need to go to go to hotel in the Rue Cler area. How do I do that?

Don

I just noticed that my Avis car return is at Railway Station Gare SCNF and my train ticket is Versailles Chantiers. Do I need to change the train to another station?

Bob Brown

I hope someone who knows the exact answer to your second question will get in on this discussion. <BR> <BR>I do know that the station known as Versailles Chantiers is listed in the SNCF schedule as an SNCF station. And the schedule shows several trains daily going from Versailles Chantiers to Gare Montparnasse, <BR>which is a major train station in south-central Paris. As far as I know Chantiers is the only SNCF station in Versailles. There is however an RER station known as Versailles Rive Gauche. The Rive Gauche station is the one that is the most convenient to the palace itself. As far as I can detect, Rive Gauche is an RER, Line C, station only. <BR>It is the one I arrived at last year when I went to Versailles. <BR> <BR>Therefore, I am deducing that the Versailles Chantiers station is the Gare SNCF for Versailles. <BR> <BR>Getting from Montparnasse to the Rue Cler area can be achieved both with the Metro and with the bus. But, in my opinion, neither the Paris Metro nor the Paris buses are user friendly IF you are transporting heavy luggage. <BR>The most convenient Metro stop to rue Cler is Ecole Militaire, but it cannot be reached by Metro from Gare Montparnasse without a change of trains. <BR>Bus 92 goes from Montparnasse to Ecole Militaire. <BR>To take the bus, you must walk from the train station, to the other side of Boulevard Montparnasse, which is no fun if you are dragging two or three suitcases. If you have luggage, my suggestion is to take a taxi. The taxi is a little more expensive, but a lot easier. <BR> <BR>You might call the Avis International desk and ask them if the Versailles office is close to the Chantiers station. If they do not know, perhaps the agent can give you the Avis Versailles phone number and you can call it directly. My understanding is that Avis employees must speak English. I know that to be the case in Switzerland. <BR>

Bob Brown

Boy! The web is a wonderful place at which and from which to learn! All it takes is a good search engine and a little persistence. By running down two or three maps of Versailles, I learned that there are not one, not two, but FOUR rail stations in Versailles: Versailles Rive Gauche, Versailles Rive Droit, Versailles Montreuil, and Versailles Chantiers. Only the Chantiers station has trains to Gare Montparnasse. So by deduction Chantiers is the Gare SNCF in Versailles. (No RER trains go to Gare Montparnasse, according to my Paris map. So Gare Montparnasse is SCNF only with both Banlieu trains and Grand Lignes.) <BR> <BR>And with a little sluething, the Avis web site willingly gave international office locations. The phone number for the Avis office in Versailles is as follows: (33) 01 39 53 42 42 <BR>So you can call them up and ask them: <BR>Are you close to Versailles Chantiers train station? And if the answer is YES, then you have your return location. <BR>Now all we need is a Paris - Versailles commuter to confirm my deductions!! <BR>Hopefully one will tune in soon and provide confirmation based on first hand experience. <BR> <BR>For Marna B: Did you know that there were 4 rail stations in Versailles? <BR> <BR>

elvira

Bob B: You're right; Chantiers is the SNCF station whose trains go to Montparnasse; RER C line also goes there, which used to confuse travelers until they started showing 'Chateau' on the arrival board in the stations to differentiate between it and Rive Gauche, which is the RER C line that goes closest to the chateau; Rive Droite is the banlieue line; I think the Montreuil station is a small stop on that line. <BR> <BR>Don: Can you return the train ticket you have? If so, take the **RER C** line from Chantiers and get off at Pont l'Alma; you're only about 600m from rue Cler.